Fear’s Two Faces

Edited by volunteers and adapted from audio recordings of a few of Lionel Hartley’s public presentations.

Illustrated with original drawings by Lionel Hartley

Typesetting by volunteers using a book template provided and designed by the author.

Mythology has many two-faced gods: Janus (Roman mythology – we get our month ‘January’ named after him), Duir or Thor (Nordic mythology – we get our weekday ‘Thursday’ named after him), Hercules (Greek mythology), Llyr or Lear (Anglo-Saxon mythology).

Fear is also two-faced. Although these god’s two faces symbolize their ability to look both into the past and the future, representing beginnings and endings, transitions, and the passage of time, the two faces of fear are more to do with semantics. The same word fear is used to talk of being afraid and demonstrating reverence.

In Part One of this volume we will look one face of fear: fear as defined by being afraid.  

In Part Two we look at the other face, the biblical command to fear God – both reverencing Him and being afraid to hurt the One we love.

Retired sociologist Lionel Hartley has earned qualifications in Business Administration, Business Law, Electronics, Economics and Accountancy, Graphic Art, IT and an honorary diploma in Dramatic Art. In the 1970s, he graduated as a Community Health Nurse with subsequent postgraduate qualifications in Psychiatric Nursing, Psychopædic Nursing, Nursing Administration and Nursing Nutrition. He later graduated from the St Andrews Clinic under the late Dr Platts with a Certificate in Sex Therapy and Family Life Counselling. In 1980, he graduated from a Melbourne Theological Seminary with a Diploma of Religion. In addition to a large number of other qualifications, Hartley later received his PhD in Sociology in 1989 and was conferred the honour of Academy Professor Emeritus in 1991. He is perhaps best known as the author of over 100 books, co-author, editor, and/or illustrator of over 100 others and the author of scores of periodical articles, pamphlets and multimedia publications. He spent over three decades as a family life counsellor and health & lifestyle educator, firstly for the New Zealand Department of Health, but mostly in private practice (with an unashamed Christian bias) in New Zealand and Australia. He authored and presented his first public seminar in 1965. As a practicing Christian he has been preaching in pulpits since 1960 for many different denominations and faith communities. Although retired from counselling, Hartley is still very involved in campanology, writing, commercial art and public speaking engagements. His hobby in his younger years was the building of reproduction barrel organs and the transposition of music into paper and electronic organ rolls. Hartley is married to Rosemary (nee Wells) and they have three grown children plus a growing number of grandchildren. (Profile provided by Theo B Hawkins [adapted])